


I Love You, and I Thought I Lost You

by Copper_16



Category: Riverdale - Fandom
Genre: Angst, F/F, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Set in the future, after high school
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-08-22 05:27:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16591688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Copper_16/pseuds/Copper_16
Summary: After college, Cheryl comes back to Riverdale and finds Toni again. They get married, and decide to start a family together. But just when the world seems perfectly alright, something takes a deadly turn one night in the Blossom/Topaz house, and leaves the characters of Riverdale searching desperately to find Cheryl before it’s too late.





	1. Before

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So I am new to writing stories, so I’m just gonna send this chapter out and get a feeler for if it seems interesting. Please let me know how you like it, what you hope for the future of the story, or if you want to make any critiques, all is welcome!  
> This first chapter is kind of a set up for the story, to get you caught up on what happened after the girls graduated high school up to the start of the story. Any characters tagged will start to show up in later chapters, but might not be present in this one!  
> Hope you enjoy!

She pulled the covers over her body, which was covered in a blood red silk nightgown. She took a deep breath, and sat up quietly to take a sip of water. Laying down again, Cheryl gently cradled her stomach and thought back on her life post-high school as she laid in bed, Toni pressed against her back. 

After graduating, Cheryl left Riverdale to go to college in New York. She graduated after 3 years at the New York School of Fashion and Design, and started her own brand of clothes, called Cherry Red. The brand made all red clothing with a sprinkle of black. Anything that could come in red, did. There were dresses, pants, shirts, belts, purses, anything. You name it, Cherry Red has it, and it was a popular brand. The clothes were comfortable and stylish, and that was a rare mix to find in the fashion industry. The clothes were semi-expensive, which made the brand even more popular. They were just a tiny bit expensive for middle class families and cheaper for the upper class. Cheryl insisted that they carry the basic necessities at cheap prices (shirts, pants, underwear, bras) for lower class families as well, but their main advertising was the more expensive clothing. The company exploded with popularity, and Cheryl was able to hire a CEO and COO after only a few monthso that she could go back to Riverdale, where she felt that she belonged. 

Don’t get her wrong, New York is amazing but the lifestyle wasn’t for Cheryl, and it took a toll on her mental health. 

As soon as Cheryl moved back to Riverdale, Toni reconnected with her instantly. It didn’t feel as though 3 years had passed, and they picked up right where they left off. 

Toni has taken to bar tending the White Wyrm after the Serpents took it back from the Ghoulies when the girls were seniors in high school. She loved the work, no matter how late the nights were. She had been working there during high school, but it was a dream to get to stay there. Even after Cheryl came back, Toni kept working there. Cheryl of course, didn’t mind one bit. All she wanted was for Toni to be happy, and if that meant that she worked as a bar tender, then that’s what she should do. As a birthday present for her 24th birthday, Cheryl bought the bar for her, which Toni was still, and would forever be, in her debt because of. She loved that place, Cheryl knew, and owning it was all that she had hoped for.

Both girls were happy to settle down for awhile after that. They enjoyed their every day routine. Cheryl woke up at 5am and spent a couple hours working on stuff for Cherry, answering emails and taking phone calls in her office. She tended to avoid working in the middle of the day or end of the day unless it was important or an emergency. She then went into the kitchen after ending work at about 9am to cook breakfast. They normally had eggs or fruit smoothies, depending on how energetic Cheryl was feeling. 

Toni woke up and snuck down early sometimes to make waffles or pancakes. When Cheryl walked into the kitchen she always put her hands on her hips and shook her head, but her smile stretched across both cheeks. These were Cheryl’s favorite days. Toni’s back was to her, but her hair was messy from sleep. Her shoulders were thin and Cheryl could see the muscles working in her shoulders as she whisked the bowl. When Toni finally turned around, and smiled guiltily. Her eyes were soft and gentle, slightly closed and still looking sleep yet bright and excited, twinkling with life. She was positively covered in flour but all Cheryl could do was go over and kiss her, flour and all.

After breakfast, they normally spent the morning and early afternoon together doing whatever. Sometimes they went on a walk, went to go see a movie, volunteered at a soup kitchen during lunch, or volunteered at the adoption center. As long as it was together, it was all fair game for them to go have fun with. 

When Toni finally left to go to the Wyrm at 4pm, Cheryl normally went off to volunteer at the sexual assault hotline in Riverdale. After what had happened to her nearly a decade ago, the need to do something, to help, had burned in her chest, a inferno of need. She had started working at the hotline as soon as she had come back to Riverdale and went practically every single day. 

They lived the same way like that for a year. But when they were 23, Toni got down on one knee, and it felt like everything changed in the best way. They were caught in a flurry of wedding excitement. 

On the big day, Cheryl wore a large red gown, and Toni wore a white pantsuit. The wedding was small, just intimate friends and family. It was small but absolutely gorgeous. Lily of the valley lined the aisle way, and brown church pew-looking benches were set up and wrapped in vines and sprinkled with flower petals. The wedding was outside and the day was bright with blue skies sprinkled with white fluffy clouds. The aisle way was a stone path, and instead of an alter, there was a arch made of branches, with vines entangled in them. Betty was Cheryl’s Maid of Honor, while Toni asked Sweet Pea and Fangs to be co-best men. There weren’t any groomsmen or bridesmaids because of the size of the wedding. But Cheryl loved the simple elegance of it, and the fact that she and Toni both compromises enough to make it the best for both of them.

After they got married, nothing really changed except for Cheryl’s love for Toni. It seemed to grow every day, and even when Cheryl thought it couldn’t get any bigger, somehow it did. Her wife was always doing the smallest acts of kindness. When Cheryl bought Toni the Wyrm as her birthday/anniversary gift, for their first wedding anniversary gift, Toni found a tree on Sweetwater river near where Jason was found, and carved there initials into the tree. Cheryl found the place sacred, as if both parts of her heart, Toni and Jason, were in the same spot. Even if it wasn’t physically, it was a very spiritual place for her. 

When Toni has asked Cheryl what she thought about having children in high school, it was all she could do to keep the bile from rising in her throat. Cheryl detested the idea of having children. So you could imagine Toni’s surprise when Cheryl suggested that maybe they should try and have a baby. Toni made Cheryl feel weightless, and she couldn’t imagine a better adventure to go on her best friend. If they never had kids, of course it didn’t matter to Cheryl but she felt that the addition to the family would only make her love grow. She was confident that she could do this. So she asked Toni, who pounced at the chance to have children. She’d always wanted kids, and could barely contain her excitement at getting to have them with Cheryl. 

They decided that it would be best to use Toni’s eggs and have Cheryl carry the baby because of Toni’s work in the bar. It took two tries, with a unfortunate and painful miscarriage before the second try produced a successful baby that grew past term 1. Cheryl was so in love with being pregnant, she was in absolute heaven. She loved getting to look down and see the gently curve of her stomach, and the first time feeling the baby kick. Granted after that it didn’t stop kicking, but she didn’t know she could be more in love when she saw Toni’s face when she first felt the baby kick. It was pure joy and love, and it made Cheryls heart burst. Toni felt the same, if not more love for Cheryl seeing her tackle of the things that scared her the most in life. She was so strong and brave, and she was even having fun with this journey. When she found out they were pregnant, Cheryl had gone and designed and released a whole new baby and maternity line at Cherry Red, which was wildly popular.  
At every ultrasound Toni cried, but Cheryl could never forget the time that Toni cried with joy when she found out they were having a daughter. For as long as she could remember, Toni had wanted to have a little girl. Of course all she cared about was the safety of Cheryl and the baby, but having it be a girl made the experience more magical for Toni. Not to say that it was without its moments, with horrible morning sickness and feverish symptoms for Cheryl, but she tried to stay positive and keep things in perspective, which was incredibly hard for her. Toni was proud of her wife’s growth as a compassionate and empathetic person versus when she first met her. She had been cold, but she managed to be be kind, and Toni was completely dumbstruck at how she had managed to do a complete 180, personality wise. 

Smiling to herself, Cheryl turned off the bedside table light and snuggled down into the covers. She gently whispered to Toni.  
“Good night Antoinette,” and kisses her bare back. 

As she lay there, she almost thought that she heard someone closing one of the doors to the house, but she shrugged it off, thinking that it was probably just her imagination


	2. Broken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another day, another chapter! Please indulge me in the little inconsistencies in the text vs the TV show, it makes things work better for this story.   
> If you would be willing to drop a comment of where you would like the story to go next, I would really appreciate it! I have a general idea, but I’m honestly not set on anything. I’m hoping for maybe a weekly update at LEAST but we will see how much time I have to write. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Thistlehouse was silent. Cheryl and Toni were tucked into their California King bed together, warm and snuggling under the covers. Toni’s hand was reaching across Cheryl’s body and rested gently on her stomach.   
Their bed was a giant California King with a memory foam mattress. The bed frame was a simple yet elegant black stained wood, with a clear resin finish. It was carved with a flower pattern, giving it just a bit more character. The sheets were starch white and crisp, washed and ironed by Cheryl every two weeks. The comforter was absolutely stunning.   
When Toni and Cheryl went out shopping, they had found it. When the sales associate had described it as blobs of red and pink, Cheryl had to bite her tongue not to yell at her. The blanket look as though gentle waves of light pink and blood red has met in the middle and swirled to form a soft, intricate pattern. It was long and puffy, perfect for curling up on a cold day in the winter, as the two girls were doing now. They had compromised on white walls painted the color of “Chantilly Lace”, a light cream off-white color. They had two bed side tables with basic white lamps that cast a lazy yellow lighting in the bedroom. Toni had told Cheryl when they were designing the bedroom that she could do all the interior design work that she wanted with the walls and furniture, but that she wanted to do the artwork. The opportunity to put her plan into action when Cheryl went away to New York for a business trip for two days and one night. She snuck around crafting, running to and from the print shop, and hanging things up. When Cheryl finally arrived back home that Saturday night, she was stunned by what Toni had done. All around the large room were pictures took of her and Toni or just herself alone. She walking through the room slowly, touching her porcelain finger to each gram. Admiring the pictures. The first picture Toni had ever taken of her, in Riverdale High School. A photo of them together in Maine when they had gone on a motorcycle road trip. A photo of her laughing sitting in the trailer park. A photo of them together at a pool party. A photo of them at Cheryl’s graduation. A photo of Cheryl in front of the first Cherry Red retail store in New York.   
“Do you like it?” Toni asked nervously.   
“Do I like it? I love it TT,” was all Cheryl could say, her voice barely audible. It was such a blatant display of affection, and it might seem small to some people but to Cheryl it was the whole world. To her, it made her house feel like a home. 

But in their home, sleeping, Cheryl wasn’t thinking about the interior design of their bedroom. She was peacefully sleeping, something rare for the Blossom. When Toni fell asleep, a tree falling on top of her wouldn’t wake her up. On the flip side, seemed to wake when a dust mite moved, and it was especially harder for her during her pregnancy. Betty and Jughead has bought a giant bean-bag pillow thing that helped her, but her entire body was still sore every morning. She still treasured getting to sleep with Toni, as the girl seemed to smell heavenly at all times, especially when she was sleeping. Cheryl loved to bury her head in the girl’s hair and smell the sweet perfumey scent. 

Cheryl woke with a start when she thought her heard a window close. She lifted her head off the pillow and turned focused in on her ears, but didn’t hear another sound. Still alert, her lay her head back down but kept her eyes open. Her back was to the door, so if anyone came in they wouldn’t be able to see her open eyes. 

Her breath was loud, crashing waves in her ears as she tried to listen to the activity in the house, praying for it to be just her anxiety, and that she was being overly worried. Nobody had any reason to be coming into her home at this hour, she hoped that all they did was steal something and leave. 

As she tried to slow her heart rate, the door knob slightly turned, and Cheryl’s heart jumped into her throat. She lay, trying to breath as slowly and evenly as possible, feigning sleep. She heard the gentle push of the door swinging open into the airy room. 

“They’re in here,” a husky voice said in a hushed tone. 

“Which one are we supposed to get again?” Asked another tone, this one higher pitched.

“The one whose pregnant. Red hair, I think? Boss wants her for something.” The husky voice spoke back.

Cheryl was so close to hyperventilating. She tried to reach out and wake Toni, but trying to wake her up before she normally woke up was next to impossible. Cheryl practically had to sit on her to wake her up. She didn’t know what time is was, but it was just starting to lighten up, so probably around 5 or 6am was what Cheryl guessed. 

Heavy footsteps walking slowly toward her, obviously trying not to make any noise, and failing miserably. Tears streamed down Cheryl’s face as she felt a hand out on her hips, and then another. She allowed herself to be slowly dragged off the bed by the man before she ‘woke’ with a start and screamed her lungs out. The large man scooped her up in his arms, and tried to make a dash for it. Toni’s eyes popped open as soon as she heard Cheryl’s scream, and when she saw what was going on, she rocketed out of bed and toward the men. 

The one holding Cheryl almost made it out of the room but hit himself in the knee and Cheryl in the stomach, causing the breath to be knocked out of her. She was still kicking and screaming, but the man was strong and running fast. He was quick, but Toni was quicker, and knew the house better. 

However, the smaller man was dashing ahead, opening doors and warning the large man about steps and door frames. They ran through the house, all four of them, knocking over practically everything they passed. Cheryl was screaming her lungs out, but Toni was too stunned and trying too hard to run to be crying. She made for in reach of Cheryl just once, their fingers brushing just slightly before the large man swung Cheryl away from Toni’s reach. They ran out of the house, down the front steps, and for the two men, into the car before they closed and locked the doors. Toni reached it just too late, watching helplessly as they threw Cheryl in the back of the car like a rag doll. Toni struck the back window with her fist, trying desperately to break the glass. It was just starting to break when the car lurched forward, accelerating fast out of the driveway. Toni ran after it, running so fast her feet hardly hit the ground. She lost stamina quickly, and fell to the ground, a puddle of tears and gut wrenching sobs that wracked her entire body. 

Toni was so engulfed in her tears that she didn’t see Jughead and Betty had turned their house lights on right next door, and soon after Veronica and Archie’s house lights were on, both couples wondering what the racket was at the Blossom-Topaz house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I really appreciate it, and comments are incredibly appreciated as this is my first story, I wanna know what I can do better!


	3. Denial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Cheryl is kidnapped, Toni begins the 5 stages of grief starting with Denial.   
> Cheryl recounts how she arrived at her place of holding, and more about her kidnappers.

By the time Jughead and Betty came running down the driveway in their pajamas, Toni was frantically screaming and sobbing. Never had she felt grief as strong as this before. She has been through unspeakable sorrows in her life and never had she felt so lost before. So helpless. She had never lost her cool like this before. There had always been a clear plan of action.  
But Toni didn’t know anything. She hadn’t gotten a good look at either of the guys. She hasn’t heard either of their voices. They drove a average black SUV, and she hadn’t seen the plates. And as they turned out of the driveway with her wife, all of that information hit her like a wave, sending her tumbling back down until she was on the ground, practically screaming for some unseen force to bring Cheryl back.   
Betty and Jughead were sprinting by the time they reached the end of the driveway. Toni’s anguished cries could be heard from every corner of Riverdale they were so loud.   
“Toni, what’s going on?” Jughead asked, bending down onto his knees to get to her level. He wrapped his arms her and she clung to them, her face soaking wet with tears. She shook and sobbed until she felt shriveled up and small in Jughead’s arms.   
“They took her,” was all Toni could muster, a small whisper.   
“Who took her?” Betty countered, her voice sweet and high pitched as her eyes connected with Jughead. Both of them looked at Toni with eyes full of worry.   
Hearing the hurried heavy footsteps running down the driveway, Betty turned to see Archie sprinting down the driveway with Veronica right on his heels.   
“What’s going on?” Archie asked breathlessly.   
“Cheryl’s been taken...? I’m not really sure to be honest.” Betty said, turning away from Archie to face Toni again. A surge of panic hit Ronnie and she spontaneously grabbed for Archie’s coat, pulling him closed to her.   
“Toni, tell us what happened.” Jughead said, rubbing soothing circles into her back.   
“I fell asleep like normal, and when I woke up it was still black out. Cheryl was being pulled off the bed by this, this guy and he slung her over his back like a sack of potatoes and just ran. He ran through the house with this other mousey looking guy who was opening the doors and stuff. And they jumped into a black SUV and locked the doors. I pounded the windows and managed to crack them but I couldn’t break the glass before they drove off. I couldn’t get a plate number, I didn’t see their faces. Nothing. And she’s gone.” Toni’s voice was smaller than Archie had ever heard it be. In times of crisis, Toni was the strong one. She was the one who held everyone together. But now, she looked fragile and defeated.   
Jughead got Toni up on wobbly legs, swaying like a newborn colt. The five of them walked into the house to face the grave reality. Stuff was strewn every which way, picture frames and candles and mirrors, broken glass strewn all over the floor.   
Toni could hardly stand on her own and sat down discoordinatly on a chair. Betty was calling every person who she could who was awake. Before long the house was filled with serpents young and old, as well as Kevin Keller and his boyfriend Michael Owen. Josie McCoy and Reggie Mantel barged through the door with Sweet Pea and Fangs almost 2 minutes after Betty had called them.   
They looked over every square inch of the house without a trace of who her kidnappers were. Finally Kevin and Michael came upon a note in the Kitchen in a small envelope. On the front it had the word “Toni” written in loopy cursive letters.   
“Toni! Come to the Kitchen!” Kevin yelled out to her. His booming voice echoed in the wall and sent most people running toward the large and updated kitchen.   
Toni shoved roughly through the group, hardly caring about hurting anyone and absolutely not apologizing for bursting past them.   
Kevin handed her the envelope and she ripped it open, sliding out a small card.   
It had a green snake winding itself around the words “Thank You!”   
Toni opened the card and red it in her head and then finally, out loud to everyone else.   
“Welcome to Riverdale.   
Where blood, sorrow, and misery festers.   
If the snake reveals her mystery too late   
Blood will mix with Maple Syrup   
A sickly sweet mixture, not the first to touch Riverdale grounds.”   
There was a beat of silence while that got translated before everyone spoke at once.   
“What does that mean?”   
“That didn’t help anyone at all!”   
“Who took her?”   
“Should we go to the police?”   
Betty whistled with her fingers in her mouth and everyone silenced.  
“I know what it means.” She said, her voice ringing in everyone’s ears.  
-  
The last thing Cheryl remembers is being snatched away from the love of her life. Tossed over a large mans shoulder, and quite literally carried away. Carried away from her home, life, and friends. Shoved into a large black van, and whooshed away, and the last thing she sees is Toni pounding on the windows of this vehicle from hell. Now all Cheryl can see is black, and all she can feel the rough sack over her head and the bumps in the road that cause her to pop up in the air every few seconds due to the lack of a seatbelt. The van smells old, and the seats feel torn. The owner clearly has zero regard for the appearance or durability of the vehicle. As Cheryl feels around the van in a failed attempt to get a better sense of her surroundings, the rough sack used to cover her head and blind her is ripped off. She peers through the mess of her fiery red hair that has now been tousled around by the sudden movement of the sack. When her head is raised just enough to properly see, she’s met with an angry looking pair of eyes. She doesn’t say a thing, afraid to upset the large man in front of her. He’s bulky and appears to be quite tall, even when sat down. He has messy brown hair, and seems as if he couldn’t care less about his appearance, much like the van itself, which Cheryl has now assumed he is the owner of. The man takes a look at her, then shuffles a bit closer.  
“What a pretty face” he speaks, a mere inch from her face. His breath smells like onions, and it makes her want to wiggle her nose in disgust. His voice is rough, and matches his husky appearance. Cheryl gives him a glare, which he returns with a small smirk and a retreat back to his original spot. Cheryl sighs, happy that the large man is now further away from her.   
“Hurry it up will you?” the man speaks once again, looking to the drivers seat for a response. Next to him, is a much smaller, almost mousey looking man. If seen together, almost nobody would assume the men were friends.. Or whatever you’d call their relationship to one another.   
“I’m going as fast as I can, unless you’d like me to get us pulled over? I’m sure that’d work out just dandy” the smaller man sassily replies. His voice is much higher pitched than the other man, but like the other, it fit his look. His appearance is much more put together than the large man, as if he seems to care just a tad more. Cheryl studies the back of their heads and voices, incase the police get involved in this... kidnapping... and she needs to give them a lengthy description on the two men that ripped her from her life. Then, she leans back and closes her eyes, because honestly? She’d much rather be pretending this isn’t happening right now.  
They made a sharp right turn and then the stopped suddenly. Cheryl opened her eyes and leaned forward, taking in the appearance of the building. The walls were made with vertical chevron strips of grey shiny metal. The door was a mixture between a moss green and a split pea soup color, and the handle was a round silver know with a keyhole above it.   
Before she could see more, another bag was placed over her head, this one made of black fabric. She heard the car door open, and she was grabbed roughly by the waste, hitting her head in the car door frame, stayed conscious but now in extreme pain. She was carried sack of potatoes style across a gravel surface, and she heard the click of a key and a doorknob opening. The floor in which she was carried changed from gravel to linoleum. The room she was in had a musty scent, and it felt dark and damp. She was thrown into a heavy metal chair, and her hands were bound with cold metal, like chains onto the railings of the hand. Her feet were bound to the legs of the chairs, the metal pressing into her pajamas pants. She shivered, a gentle breeze wafting through her thin clothes.   
With a start, the hood was removed from her head, and her eyes were shocked with extreme, blinding light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy! Please leave comments below about feedback!   
> This chapter is co-written by my girlfriend ❤️


	4. Z and Bo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cheryl learns more about her captures, while the Serpents find that someone has been harboring a secret. What secret? That is yet to be discovered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey ya’ll! It’s been awhile but I wanted to keep updating! After last weeks epsiode I felt far more interested in writing, if ya know what I mean :)

The bag was ripped off of Cheryl’s head. She was blinded by a light shone directly into her face. Her head was pounding, a dull ache. She felt bruised all over and she felt her knee, the back of her head, her collarbone area and her stomach sticky with dried blood. She was bound in a cold metal chair, her feet tied to the chair legs harshly, and her arms bound in zip ties to the chair arms. They cut deep into her skin, practically cutting off the circulation to her hand. She heard two people, and finally saw them as her eyes adjusted to the harsh light.   
“We have to use her as leverage to get to the serpents. That’s what the boss wants.” A small mousy person spoke, annoyance very present in his mouth, as though he’d already said this 10 times.   
“But she’s only really connected to the tiny pink haired one, how’s she going to be of any use?” A large man said, his voice slow and his speech slurred.   
“Well first of all dumbass she’s a serpent herself. She good with a bow and arrow to be precise. And when one serpent goes down, all the others have an obligation to find her. Plus the fact that she’s pregnant, it’ll leave the pink haired girl frantic to get her back, more likely to make a dumb decision.” The mousey one replied. As he finished his speech, he looked over to Cheryl. “She’s awake! Let’s get started.”   
“Oh boy!” Said the large, big boned man, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.   
“Good morning doll. Now listen closely. You cooperate, nobody gets hurt. If you lie, you get hurt. If you don’t cough up answers, you get hurt. Or even worse, your baby gets hurt. I’m not afraid to kill you, I could care less.” The small thin man said, waging his pointer finger at Cheryl. She noticed to patch on the arm of his jacket. It belonged to the Ghoulies.   
“Figures” she muttered quietly under her breath.   
“What was that?” The large man slammed his hands on the metal table in front of him, causing both the smaller man and Cheryl to jump.   
“Nothing” Cheryl said tersely. “Why do you want me anyways?” She asked   
“Not that we have to tell you anything, but we want you because the little one with pink hair is very connected in the Serpents. And we need something from them.” He smiled back, his teeth shining white as he crossed his arms over each other.   
“Now sit here and don’t cause a ruckus. You can address me as Z and my partner as Bo, ok?” The smaller man, Z, said. Cheryl cleared her dry throat and nodded at Z and Bo.   
Both men walked away, and opened the only large metal door in the square building, leaving Cheryl alone.   
It was freezing cold, despite Cheryl’s sweatpants and long sleeve shirt she had worn to bed. Trying to distract herself, she looked around the building.   
It was four basic metal walls, a perfect square. The floor was grey concrete with a few cracks in it. Aside from the chair, desk, and lamp directly in front of her, there was also a gurney and a tray full of medical instruments. The thought of being poked and prodded made Cheryl break into a cold sweat. She suddenly caught sight of a stray hair on the table. It started out black, then moved into a soft brown color, and finally it had baby pink. Cheryl missed Toni terribly. She could only imagine the anguish Toni was feeling right now. She had heard her, as they ran through the house. She screams would forever haunt Cheryl’s dreams. Toni wasn’t just losing one member of her family, she was losing two. Suddenly, she had a thought and it made her head fall down, practically into her lap.   
She knew of course, that Toni loved her. But this rescue wasn’t like the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. The Ghoulies obviously wanted something from Toni.   
But Toni was the most loyal serpent Cheryl had ever met. And she knew the cost of giving up information to the opposing gang. She wouldn’t do that, not to the entire gang.   
Cheryl knew what that meant. In order to protect her, Toni was going to have to let her and their unborn baby die.   
—  
“Well, what does it mean?” Veronica was the first to Pope up after Betty had told the group that she knew what the note meant.   
“It’s quite simple if you know Cheryl’s back story in detail.” Betty studied the paper for a minute, examining the lines once more. Everyone was holding still, not a single person talking, the only noise in the room heavy breathing from everyone.   
“Welcome to Riverdale is obvious.   
Where blood, sorrow, and misery meets refers to how we end up with a lot going on in riverdale despite being a small town.   
If the snake reveals her mystery too late. I’m pretty sure they mean Toni, and some mystery she has.” Everyone turned to look at Toni but before they had a chance to ask anything, Betty saved her by reading the next line.   
“Blood will mix with Maple Syrup. That’s talking about Cheryl. Maple syrup is her company. Blood will mix with maple syrup. It must mean that Cheryl will be hurt or even killed.” Everyone took in a sharp breath, and Toni covered her head in her hands.   
“A sickly sweet mixture not the first to touch Riverdale grounds. That definitely means Cheryl. Not the first to touch riverdale grounds, they are relating the mixture to someone like Cheryl, her brother Jason.” Betty finished, putting the paper down in defeat.   
Tonis head was in her hands. When she looked back up, she saw about 30 pairs of eyes looking directly at her. She stood up with a start and rushed out the door. Her chest was heaving, and she felt like she was drowning. She needed to come up for air but there was nowhere to go. She needed windshield wipers for her eyes, the tears exploding out of her eyes at an exponential rate. She sat down in the middle of the driveway, her sobs laced with anguish.   
Veronica and Jughead ran out and found Toni. They walked over to her. Veronica leaned over and held her as tight as her arms would let her. When she released her, Toni sniffled. She wiped her tears from her cheek. Jughead looked over at Toni.   
“Tiny, what did you do?” He said, looking into her guilty eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be sure to leave comments for things you liked/want to critique!


	5. 47 Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *TRIGGER WARNING KIDNAPPING, ABUSE, CUTTING*  
> 47 days after Cheryl’s kidnapping, we learn how Cheryl is being treated and the secret Toni has been keeping for 2 decades.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey ya’ll! But of a time jump, but I hope you guys like it! More of the core four in next chapter, I have had a few people asking me when they will be involved. I am trying to keep them involved but this fix is mainly about Cheryl and Toni so please keep that in mind!

47 Days Later  
-  
Cheryl had been moved from location to location, about every 2 days, maybe 4 at most. She was living off of one glass of water, and a small piece of bread every day. Normally the Ghoulies would never do something like this, but whatever they needed must have been very important. As more time went on, Cheryl cheeks began to sunk in, her eyes became hollow and glossy. Her body was little more than skin wrapped over bones and organs. Her baby bump was still there, but in the month and a half that she had been held, it had barely grown.   
The Ghoulies were smart. They knew how much food to give her to keep her just alive. They obviously had someone who knew about food rationing.   
They kept her chained to a chair, giving her an hour to get up and walk around inside whatever building she was in at the time. There were always so many gang members, hustling and bustling around as if they had so much to do. They seemed to be ceaselessly busy, but Cheryl did not know what they were doing most of the time. She had seen no other prisoners while she was able to get up, but she doubted they would be foolish enough to let her see any others. The ropes they used to keep her in the chair burned into her skin, causing deep red bruises around her wrists and ankles. Her hair became matted and dull. Once, when she had a snarl that nobody brushed, so it became bigger and bigger until finally they were forced to take a sharp knife and hack a layer of her long hair off.   
Bo and Z eventually came back for her and began to interrogate her every other day. The only problem was that Cheryl didn’t know anything.   
It was a blessing and a curse. Toni has told her nothing. Cheryl knew it was the right choice, but at the same time she would do anything for more food. She was in true agony, all she wanted to do was sleep, she was so exhausted all the time. As they grilled her endlessly everyday, Cheryl screamed that she didn’t know anything.   
“You’ve got to know something!” Z said, staring her dead in the eye.   
“I’ve told you a hundred times, I don’t know!” She snarled back.   
“She’s your wife, how could she not tell you this?” Bo hit his hands on the table, his frustration obvious in his face.   
“I don’t know! We tried to keep Serpent things separate from our lives. She didn’t tell me things, and exactly for this reason!” Cheryl cried back to him. “Why don’t you go get her for yourself? What do you need me for?”   
“If Toni was here, it would be easy for her to resist, because she doesn’t care about the consequences of her own life. But you, you’re the soft underbelly of the snake for her. Seeing you in pain, it will torture her. It will force her to tell us. We aren’t seeing the results we need. Which is why was have a plan B.”   
Cheryl was put away for the night, and she slept her thin mat on the concrete floor. The next day she was woken up be two women. They dragged her out and strapped her to the chair. But they put the ropes up higher than normal, so the heavy bruising showed: they matted her hair, added dark eyeshadow to her already sunken eye bags. They wrapped her torso in bandages, covering her breasts and baby belly, but left her shoulders and arms open to show scarring. Her legs were in jeans, as her legs had remained relatively untouched.   
They told her to wear a pained expression. She did not, instead smiling a large smile. It earned her a fresh scar on her porcelain hand, the blood running down her hand. They took about a thousand photos of her. With flash, without flash, different shades of lighting, different colors, changing her appearance, everything. They finally picked a photo, and Cheryl managed to catch a glance.   
She had a small smile on her face, and she looked happy despite her demised appearance. The lighting was harsh on her body, making her look paler than normal and showing every bruise, cut, scab, scar, anything and everything.   
The downloaded it onto a burner phone and sent it to Jughead. How they had his phone number, Cheryl has no clue. The only hope she had was that Toni never laid eyes on it. She knew her wife, and it would send her into a raging torment. When Toni got mad, she was indestructible. She knew this was going to put the line between family and the job on the line.   
-  
Toni had spent 47 days holding out of telling anyone her secret. She refused to tell anyone whatsoever. She knew what the Ghoulies wanted. But she didn’t know what the price ended up being to have to pay it. She was in pain thinking about Cheryl being in pain, and she had gotten more and more threatening notes. But when Jughead came over to her house on a silent, dark, quiet Tuesday night, everything changed.   
“Toni, they sent me something.” Jughead said, which Toni thought little of. They had been sending her little notes for more than a month.   
“Big deal, they send me not-“   
“Not a note. A picture.” His tone was dead serious and quiet.   
Pain, anxiety, agony iced through Toni’s veins when she heard that. Jughead turned the phone to her and showed her the photo. Toni took awhile to take everything from the picture in. Every cut, every strand of hair, every article of clothing. Toni sighed a small breath of relief when she saw Cheryl’s small baby bump. The baby was still there. But everything else terrified Toni. She had never seen Cheryl like this. The pain wasn’t evident in her face though. She was smiling, and looked like the beauty she had met at the drag race, all those years ago.   
“What do we do Toni?” Jughead asked after awhile. A silent tear ran down his cheek. Toni looked up, her face reading nothing but defeat.   
“I have to tell you what happened.” She walked into the house. Jughead followed her in, closing the door. She sat down heavily at the deep brown dining table in Thistlehouse. She sank into the deep oak chair while Jughead sat perched on his, the nervous anticipation reading all over his face.   
“When I was younger I was a double agent for the serpents. I went undercover for the Serpents with the Ghoulies, being a young girl who joined the gang. My mission was to extract this book. It was a giant hit list essentially. It had the name, address, whatever information they could find on basically every person the Ghoulies needed to go mess up or kill or whatever. And when I was 8 I slipped into a back room when I was supposed to be going to the bathroom and I grabbed it. They realized what I was doing and I had to jump out the window with the book. I ran and ran and ran back toward Serpent territory, the Ghoulies following desperately. But they were caught with their pants down, and I was a quick little kid. I made it back, but they still have a vendetta against me. They want that book, but I can’t give it to them. It has the names of most of the serpent members at this point, and as soon as they got it back they would come after everyone. If we change anything they will notice, and then it wouldn’t be worth it anyways. I don’t know what to do Jug. I’m caught as a crossroads. Do I save the love of my life at the sacrifice of everyone else I love or let them kill Cheryl and save the gang?” Toni signed long and low, her eyebrows scrunched. She either had to let her wife die but save her friends, or let her baby and love die but everyone else remained safe. She had faced dilemmas before, but this tested every moral she had held since birth. She felt like she was drowning, out of control and no way to survive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked the chapter! Please comment if you can about what you think, what needs fixing, critiques, etc.


	6. The Book and the Letter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jughead and Toni make a plan. Betty and Veronica are asked a favor by a close friend, while Archie receives a startling package, and is forced to make an unknown decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to change up the perspectives this time around, so instead of just Cheryl and Toni, this chapter has Toni, Veronica, and Archie. Let me know if you would like me to do perspectives from other characters again or if I should just stay with Cheryl and Toni.
> 
> This chapter is a bit shorter, but I didn’t know what else to add and I really liked this mini cliffhanger. So...oh well!

“I have an idea!” Jughead looked up at Toni with wide eyes. 

“Yes?” Toni answered, batting her wet eyelashes back at Jughead. 

“What if we put Serpents in the book. But really really really really old Serpents who are dead now but are technically Serpents. And we put their address in the book?” Toni thought about it for a second. 

“Jug that’s actually a really good idea. But what if those Serpents children still love in their houses?” 

“Well most of the older Serpents trailers were burned so they don’t exist anymore but those who still live in old serpent houses can put their jackets away somewhere safe. Cheryl is a serpent too, and we protect our own.” 

“You are brilliant.” She smiles widely, her pearly white teeth showing. The two of them anxiously began making calls and rounding up every serpent address out their. Toni called Betty and Veronica and asked to meet them at the speakeasy. 

-

Veronica walked into Pop Tate’s diner and walked elegantly across the checkered floor. She wore a floor length black dress with a neckline just low enough to show off a peek of cleavage. She had on small maroon heels, a maroon clutch and headband, with gold jewelry. Betty followed behind her confidently. She wore a pastel lavender dress with a floral pattern on it, with black flats. She wore her dress with a simple yet stylish black belt. 

Veronica opened the large wooden door that led down the stairs to the speakeasy. She remembered years ago when the group had come here when it had just opened. How Josie had sung so well. 

As they turned down the winding staircase and found Toni standing looking at a painting, her arms crossed. Veronica couldn’t help but chuckle as the irony of the situation. They were coming to help Toni with Cheryl’s SECOND kidnapping. This couple seriously couldn’t get a break. 

“Thank you guys so much for coming.” The stress was evident in Toni’s voice. 

“Of course Toni, what can we help you with?” Betty responded with a gentle smile. 

“I need a favor to ask. I have this book, and I need it to be erased and rewritten well enough to pass as the real thing. And it needs to be done pretty quickly. We have to trade it for Cheryl.” Toni whipped her head back and forth, trying to gage their thoughts on what she had just said. The girls both looked at each other and nodded vigorously. 

“This is Cheryl Blossom we are talking about. As if we could say no!” Veronica rubbed her hands together quickly. “When do we get this book?” 

Toni pulled it out of a bag on the floor. She then extracted a blue folder with a thick stack of papers in it. She handed the book to Veronica and the folder to Betty. 

“In the folder you will find everything that needs to be written in the book. Thank you guys again. So much. I wish I could stay longer but I really need to go, I’m sorry.” She gave them a quick smile and a hug before bounding up the stairs two at a time and out the door. 

“Well,” Veronica puttered our, pulling out a chair from one of the circular tables, “should we get started?” 

“Good idea” Betty said, throwing her stuff on the floor and sitting down, putting the folder gently on the table. 

-

Archie was standing at the sink in his house, staring out the window in front of him when he heard the door knock. He glanced over at the door. His feet moved, seemingly unconnected from his mind, carrying over to the door. He undid the first lock and then the second. He turned the knob of the door and pulled it toward him, opening it. There was no person in front of it, but when his gaze shifted downward he found a small white envelope with the words ARCHIE written in block letters. 

He reached down and picked it up, stepping back inside, closing the door. He broke the seal and opened the letter. He read the letter with greedy eyes and realized he had a choice to make. Should he tell Toni or shouldn’t he. He walked back into his kitchen and sat down at the counter of the island, staring at the note. 

He was still staring at it 15 minutes later when he heard the locks turn and he heard he door open. 

“Archiekins? Where are you?” Veronica called out. Broken from his trance, Archie responded. 

“I’m in the kitchen!” He yelled back. Veronica walked down the hallway, turning into the kitchen. 

“What’s this?” Veronica’s eyebrows went up in curiosity, gesturing toward the letter . Archie pushed his hand toward her, giving her the letter. She plucked it out of his hand, reading it with intensity. 

“Holy fuck Archie. We need to get this to Toni.” Archie looked like he had been hit by a train. Veronica never swore, so he knew this was big. He grabbed his keys and Veronica’s hand, practically dragging her out the door. They both flew into the car, and Veronica texted Toni they were coming over, they had something she needed to see.

Archie does over to Thistlehouse, throwing the car into park. They both stepped out of the car and walked, rather quickly, over to the door, knocking with a purpose. Toni opened the door with a curious look, as they both barged in. Toni saw the letter in Veronica’s hand and a rush of panic went through her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think about the multiple perspectives if you get a chance :)


	7. The Importance of a Portrait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reflection...

Veronica slid the envelope across the table, as though she was handing Toni a secret mission. Toni stared at it for a moment. She didn’t want to open it. She was scared, in all honesty. Despite the fact that she had been in a gang for almost her entire life, and had faced some hard shit in her times, nothing had ever made her feel the way Cheryl made her feel. 

Meeting Cheryl had been like coming up from being underwater. Toni had been drowning in sorrow, in pain, caught up in the past rather than looking toward the future. She had so many people around her, but she had never felt more alone.

Nobody loved her in that way. 

A true love, a love that could break through concrete love, a love where you would sacrifice everything just to see that one special person smile with full, luscious lips and sparkling white teeth. 

You would give everything just to feel her soft hands caress your face one more time. To hear her laugh break through the unbearable silence that plagued you for all of your life. 

To see her walk down a hallway, hips strutting, her legs eating up the ground, and you realize that shes coming right for you. Shes coming toward you and she stops and gently places her blood colored lips on yours and she tastes like strawberries and candy and smells like everything good in the world. 

You would pay anything to feel her cuddle into your chest, her fiery red hair on your shoulders, and she smells like coconuts and flowers and her breathing is low and calm, grounding you to the present. 

You would give ANYTHING to just argue with her. To watch her SCREAM at you but it wouldn’t matter because she would be here and the pain of being yelled at couldn’t ever come close to the feeling of her being gone. 

But instead she’s gone and her friend is handing you an envelope that, at this point, couldn’t possibly make you feel better. Its been two months, and Toni had given up hope of ever finding the person who meant more to her in this world than anything. No amount of money or anything tangible could even come close to the happiness Cheryl Blossom brought Toni Topaz. 

Sure, Cheryl could be a bit of a bitch. She could be mean, and lash out, and do something stupid. But after her past, Toni knew. And Cheryl listened, eventually. And she always stayed. Even when she got mad for whatever reason, she wouldn’t dream of leaving Toni. 

Instead of opening the envelope Veronica had just given her, she stood up and looked around the house. Everywhere were pictures of Cheryl. Sure, most of them were of Toni and Cheryl, but Cheryl was all that Toni cared about. There were plenty of the two together looking perfect, smiling at the camera, your picture perfect lesbian couple. 

But Toni’s favorites? Those were framed on the sitting room wall. Toni had taken her camera and had sneaked around to get candid photos of Cheryl, (she liked to think of it as Cheryl in her natural habitat) just doing Cheryl things. 

She didn’t have any makeup on and she wasn’t wearing any fancy clothes, but she was absolutely perfect in every way, at least to Toni. Her expressions were all so different in every photo, all of which were in black and white. 

There was one of her on the phone, laughing with her mouth open wide and her eyes crinkled shut.  
Her on her laptop doing god knows what for Cherry Red, but her eyebrows are all scrunched and her mouth is twisted off to the side of her face in concentration.   
Her sitting reading, her eyes softly glancing over at the pages, her mouth in a half smile.  
Her holding a bowl of waffle mix and a whisk, stirring but laughing softly at Toni.

But Toni’s favorite was larger than those 4, and it hung above them. Toni had walked into their bedroom and called out to Cheryl, who was facing her sitting down on the bed, looking down at a folder for something, Toni couldn’t remember what. Cheryl had lifted her face up, and Toni had snapped a picture. Cheryl’s face was absolutely stunning, her eyebrows lifted slightly and her mouth in a half smile. She looked gentle and kind and compassionate and inquisitive and effulgent and hubristic and sagacious and zealous all at once. It was just everything Cheryl. It was the Cheryl Toni knew, the one who she had rescued from a conversion therapy home, the one who loved to act, the cheerleader, the artist, the best partner anyone had ever been. 

“She really is gorgeous.” Toni turned slowly to Veronica, who was standing behind her looking at the photos. Toni wiped at a tear that pooled out of her eye. 

“I’ve never felt this lost before Ronnie. Every time there has been a crisis, I can stay calm. I can be level headed, looking for a solution that must obviously be there. I’ve never lost hope. But its been almost two months and I cant, I cant, I cant.” She looked around wildly, sobbing frantically at everything in the room that reminded her of Cheryl. 

All the furniture, every decoration, it was all Cheryl. 

“I can’t think and I can’t breathe and I can’t move and I can’t comprehend anything that is happening. Why is this happening to us? Haven’t we had enough shit for a lifetime? For five lifetimes? Everything we have been through, nobody deserves a happily ever after more than Cheryl. She lost everyone, she had nothing, but then she had me. And it is not an exaggeration when I say that nobody has been a more devoted wife, a more loving partner. She has been there through everything, and it was my job to protect her. It was MY job to protect her. She screamed out to me, to save her and I couldn’t even do that. I couldn’t get to her. I was so close, she was right there. But she was so far away at the same time. How can I face her after that? How can I ever get her back and come back and live with her knowing the fact that I didn’t save her and that I can’t protect her. She deserved so much better. She’s my everything Ronnie, and I lost her. She saved me from myself, she let me in and showed me how to love again and I don’t know what the HELL I will do if anything happens to her I mean GOD-“ She was cut off by her choking sobs. She couldn’t breathe, the tears streaming down her face, falling to the plush red carpet Cheryl had picked out. She fell to the ground, holding her knees close to her chest as she hoped for something, anything to knock her out, take away this unbearable, all consuming pain. 

Soft hands came around her body, enveloping her in a hug. Veronica Lodge smelled like flowers, and she held Toni with a strict pressure, just enough to know she wasn’t alone, not ever. 

“Toni…” She whispered softly in the serpents ear. 

“What?” Toni wiped her bloodshot eyes, her face puffy and her lips chapped. She looked completely finished, like she had given up. 

“The envelope.” Ronnie looked at her with bright eyes, filled with hope. 

“What about the envelope?” Toni asked, a deep rush of air escaping her mouth in the form of a long, low sigh. 

“Toni, it’s a date and a time to exchange Cheryl. Its for tomorrow. We are getting her back. Do you hear me Toni? We are getting Cheryl Blossom back tomorrow. This hasn’t all been for nothing. By noon tomorrow she will be back in your arms, right where she belongs. And she will be so relieved to finally feel safe, and warm, and smell you and feel your soft skin and see your fluffy hair that she won’t give a fuck about what happened. Because she knows that its in the past. If being with Cheryl has taught you anything, it should have been to never look in the past. Because it wont change anything. You wallowing wont help Cheryl, it won’t help your baby. Its going to be okay Toni.” Veronica gripped Toni’s shoulders to ground her to now, the present, here. 

Toni looked at Ronnie with a dazed, shocked face. As soon as Ronnie stopped talking, Toni felt a tidal wave of relief. The last 2 months seemed to slam her in the face all at once. She nodded her head once at Veronica before she slowly fell to the ground, her entire world turning black where all she could feel was an overwhelming sense of calm, peace, serenity. She would be okay. Toni was thanking whatever all knowing being that existed up there that this was possible. And she prayed it wasn’t a dream. 

Mostly because Toni wasn’t sure how much more of this she could take.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this on my computer versus my phone and I felt like it was a lot easier to format and I actually wrote surprisingly differently? Idk if it was just me but I felt like there was a TON more description and I'm kinda digging the one person perspective, at least for this chapter specifically.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for getting through the first chapter! Feel free to drop a comment in the section below!


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